A. D. 1528.

most vigorous measures for restoring his holiness to liberty. Henry, however, contributed only money. A French army crossed the Alps, under the command of Mareschal Lautrec; Clement obtained his freedom; and war was, for a time, carried on by the confederates with success. But the death of Lautrec, and the revolt of Andrew Doria, a celebrated Genoese admiral, at that time in the service of France, totally changed the face of affairs. He obliged the French garrison in Genoa to surrender, and restore the liberties of his country. The French army was utterly ruined before Naples; and Francis, discouraged, and almost exhausted by so many unsuccessful enterprizes, began at length to think of peace, and of obtaining the release of his sons by concessions, instead of the terror of his arms.

At the same time, Charles, notwithstanding the advantages he had gained, had many reasons to wish for an accommodation. Solyman the Magnificent, having over-run Hungary, was ready to break in upon the Austrian territories with the whole force of the Ottoman empire; and the progress of the Reformation in Germany threatened the tranquillity of that country. In consequence of this situation of affairs, while pride made both parties conceal or dissemble their real sentiments, two ladies were permitted to restore peace to Europe. Margaret of Austria, Charles's aunt, and Louisa, Francis's mother, met at Cambray, and settled the terms of pacification between the French king and the emperor. Francis agreed to pay two millions of crowns, as the ransom of his two sons; to resign the sovereignty of Flanders and Artois, and forego all his Italian claims; and Charles ceased to demand the restitution of of Burgundy 27.

A. D. 1529.

All the steps of this negociation had been communicated to the king of England; and Henry was, on that occasion, so generous to his friend and ally Francis, that he sent him

27. Sandov. Hist. del Emp. Carl. P. Robertson, book v.

an

an acquittal of near six hundred thousand crowns in order to enable him to fulfil his agreement with Charles. But Francis's Italian confederates were less satisfied with the treaty of Cambray. They were almost wholly abandoned to the will of the emperor, and seemed to have no other means of security left but his equity and moderation. Of these, from his past conduct, they had not formed the most advantageous idea. But Charles's present circumstances, more especially in regard to the Turks, obliged him to behave with a generosity inconsistent with his character. The Florentines alone, whom he reduced under the dominion of the family of Medicis, had reason to complain of his severity. Sforza obtained the investiture of the duchy of Milan and his pardon: and every other power experienced the lenity of the victor.

A. D. 1530.

Charles, who, during this full tide of his fortune, having quieted all the discontents in Spain, had appeared in Italy with the pomp and power of a conquerer, and received the Imperial crown from the hands of the pope, now prepared to revisit Germany, where his presence was become highly necessary; for although the conduct and valour of his brother Ferdinand, on whom he had conferred the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria, and who had been elected king of Hungary, had obliged Solyman to withdraw his forces, his return was to be feared, and the disorders of religion were daily increasing. But these disorders, and the future exploits of the emperor, must form the subject of another letter.

LETTER

LETTER LIX.

THE GENERAL VIEW OF THE AFFAIRS OF EUROPE, AND OF THE PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION ON THE CONTINENT, CONTINUED FROM THE PEACE OF CAMBRAY TO THAT OF CRESPY, IN 1544.

THE Reformation, my dear Philip, had gained much ground in Germany, during that long interval of tranquillity, which the absence of the emperor, the contests between him and the pope, and his attention to the war with France, afforded its promoters. Most of the princes who had embraced Luther's opinions, had not only established in their territories that form of worship which he approved, but had entirely suppressed the rites of the Romish church. Many of the free cities had imitated their conduct. Almost one half of the Germanic body had revolted from the papal see; and its dominion, even in that part which had not yet shaken off the yoke of Rome, was considerably weakened by the example of the neighbouring states, or by the secret progress of those doctrines which had undermined it among them.

Whatever satisfaction the emperor, while at open enmity with the pope, might have felt in those events which tended to mortify and embarrass his holiness, he was at the same time sensible, that the religious divisions in Germany would, in the end, prove hurtful to the imperial authority. Accordingly the prospect of an accommodation with Clement no sooner opened, than Charles appointed a diet of the empire to be held at Spire, in order to take into consideration the state of religion. The diet, after much dispute, A. D. 1529. issued a decree confirming the edict published against Luther at Worms, and prohibiting any farther innovations in religion, but particularly the abolition of the mass, before the meeting of a general council. Against this decree, as unjust and impious, the elector of Saxony, the landgrave

of

Hesse, the duke of Lunenburg, the prince of Anhalt, together with the deputies of fourteen imperial or free cities, entered a solemn protest. On that account they were called PROTESTANTS'; an appellation which has since become common to all the sects, of whatever denomination, that have revolted from the church of Rome.

Such was the state of religious matters when Charles returned from Germany. He assisted in person at the diet of Augsburg; where the Protestants presented their system of opinions, composed by Melancthon, the most A. D. 1530. learned and moderate of all the reformers. This system, known by the name of the Confession of Augsburg, from the place where it was presented, was publicly read in the diet. Some popish divines were appointed to examine it; they brought in their animadversions: a dispute ensued be tween them and Melancthon, seconded by some of his disciples; and, as in most cases of that kind, nothing was determined. Every one remained in his own way of thinking. From the Protestant divines, Charles turned to the princes their patrons, but with no better success: they refused to abandon what they deemed the cause of God, for any earthly advantage. Coercive measures were resolved upon. A decree was issued condemning most of the peculiar tenets held by the Protestants, and prohibiting any one to tolerate those who taught them.

In consequence of this decree, which they considered as a prelude to the most violent persecution, the protestant princes assembled at Smalkade, and concluded a league of mutual defence; and the emperor's ambition, which led him to get his brother elected king of the Romans, in order to continue the imperial crown in his family, furnished the confederates with a decent pretence for courting the alliance of A. D. 1531. foreign princes. The kings of France and England secretly agreed to support them. Meanwhile many cir

1. Sleidan. Father Paul. Seckend.

cumstances

cumstances and reflections convinced Charles, that this was not a proper season to attempt the extirpation of heresy by the sword. He saw Solyman ready to enter Hungary, with the whole force of the Turkish empire, in order to wipe off the disgrace which his arms had sustained in the former campaign: he felt the necessity of union, not only for the accomplishment of his future schemes, but for ascertaining his present safety. The peace with France was precarious; and he was afraid that the followers of Luther, if treated with severity, might forget that they were Christians, and join the infidels. Policy made him drop the mask of zeal. By a treaty concluded at Nuremburgh, and solemnly ratified in the diet at Ratisbon, the emperor granted the Protestants liberty of conscience until a meeting of a general council: and they agreed, on their part, to assist him powerfully against the Turks1.

A. D. 1532.

Of

This treaty was no sooner signed than Charles received information that Solyman had entered Hungary, at the head of three hundred thousand men. The imperial army, consisting of ninety thousand disciplined foot, and thirty thousand horse, besides a prodigious number of irregulars, immediately assembled in the neighbourhood of Vienna. this vast body, the emperor, for the first time, took the command in person: and Europe waited, in anxious suspense, the issue of a decisive battle between the two greatest potentates in the universe. But each dreading the other's power and good fortune, both conducted their operations with so much caution, that a campaign, from which the most important consequences had been expected, was closed without any memorable event. Solyman finding it impossible to take advantage of an enemy always on his guard, marched back to Constantinople: and Charles, freed from so dangerous an invader, set out for Spain3.

2. Du Mont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv.

3. Sandov. Hist. de l'Emp. Carl. V. vol. ii. Robertson. book v.